For the Dallas Cowboys, stopping the run has become an issue with this little “run” they are making. To be clear, the point loss in question is the third consecutive season of missing the playoffs. The 2021-2023 season was finished twice by the San Francisco 49ers before the Green Bay Packers added their name to the list. That includes Tom Brady's final game, a wild-card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In their first two losses in the playoffs, the Cowboys were largely bounced back due to their inability to defend the run. In the latter they were bounced, as they had almost every chance. Needless to say, stopping the opposing team on the ground when it mattered most was a challenge for this group.
Jerry Jones believes Cowboys defense is already good against the run
Throughout the 2022 regular season, it became clear that linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was one of the team's most important pieces defensively. Dan Quinn's group struggled mightily while he was out, but his return didn't prove to be a complete solution.
But Vander Esch is now officially retired and Quinn has gone to work with the Washington Commanders, who are poaching people he worked with while in Dallas every second. The Cowboys have acquired one outside free agent in the past, Eric Kendricks, who could theoretically replace Vander Esch, but they lost a notable player in the area, like Jonathan Hankins, for one. .
Nevertheless, Jerry believes that their lives are better than when we last saw them.
Jerry Jones said he expects the Cowboys to be better against the run because of a different defensive alignment. He said they are already good at linebacker in Eric Kendricks and Overshawn https://t.co/xUjCPwlhQs
— Clarence Hill Jr. (@clarencehilljr) March 24, 2024
Jerry specifically cited DeMarvion Overshawn (along with Kendricks, of course) as part of the reason for optimism in this sense. Relying on a second-year player who technically has no live-action NFL experience while coming back from a torn ACL is a bit of a bold move, but many of us expected the Cowboys to do it. Was.
Jerry also mentioned defensive adjustments because of this belief, with the idea that Mike Zimmer's defense would be more adjusted to stop conceding runs. Quinn's defense focused on disrupting the pass game, and the run game seemed to take a backseat. Adding Kendrick, who is familiar with Zimmer's scheme, should go some way to building the defense for 2024.
Time will tell if Jerry is right that Dallas is better in this regard. Naturally, their task in free agency became even more difficult when the Philadelphia Eagles signed Saquon Barkley. They weren't the only team in the division to add runners, as the New York Giants (who obviously lost Barkley) signed Devin Singletary and the Washington Commanders acquired Austin Ekeler. Everything became much more difficult.
